Fanfare-Colleges: Duke women No. 1 in new tennis rankings

DURHAM — The Duke women’s tennis team received the No. 1 ranking in the nation Tuesday, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). The announcement comes one day after the Blue Devils’ captured the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va.

Duke last was ranked No. 1 nationally in 2010, which it held for four weeks. The Blue Devils concluded the 2010 season in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils defeated three top 10 teams over the weekend to capture the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, including No. 3 North Carolina, 4-2, in the quarterfinal round, No. 5 UCLA, 4-3, in the championship round and No. 8 California, 4-2, in the semifinal round. The Blue Devils remain undefeated through eight matches this season.

In addition to the team ranking, a number of singles players and doubles pairs received rankings from the ITA. Sophomore Beatrice Capra remained at No. 3, after posting victories over North Carolina’s No. 1 Jamie Loeb and UCLA’s No. 2 Robin Anderson during the ITA national tournament. Junior Ester Goldfeld moved up 25 positions to No. 20, after earning wins against stout competition in the early stages of the season, including a 6-4, 7-5 win over UCLA’s No. 9 Chanelle Van Nguyen in the championship match.

Senior Hanna Mar jumped from No. 49 to No. 42 while freshman Alyssa Smith (No. 96) and senior Marianne Jodoin (No. 115) appeared in the top 125 for the first time this season.

Three Duke doubles teams also appear among the ITA’s top 60 ranked pairs, including the tandem of Capra and Mar at No. 6, junior Annie Mulholland and Goldfeld at No. 16 and Jodoin and Goldfeld at No. 39.

The Blue Devils return to action Feb. 21, when they travel to Charlottesville, Va., to face No. 10 Virginia.

ITA NATIONAL WOMEN’S TENNIS RANKINGS

Rank Team Previous Rank

1 Duke 10

2 Stanford 1

3 UCLA 5

4 California 8

5 Florida 2

6 North Carolina 3

7 Northwestern 16

8 Georgia 4

9 Southern California 6

10 Virginia 14

11 Texas A&M 7

12 Clemson 13

13 Michigan 11

14 Miami 9

15 Vanderbilt 15

16 Alabama 12

17 Texas 17

18 Baylor 19

19 Texas Tech 18

20 Auburn 21

21 Georgia Tech 20

22 Notre Dame 23

23 Rice 22

24 Oklahoma 28T

25 Arizona State 24

Former Duke star Ray Farmer named Browns GM

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns fired their coach after one season. Now they’re sweeping out their front office.

Owner Jimmy Haslam announced Tuesday that CEO Joe Banner will step down in the next two months and general manager Michael Lombardi is leaving the team.

Haslam said assistant GM Ray Farmer has been promoted and will immediately take the over the team’s football operations. Haslam himself will effectively replace Banner.

A safety with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1996 to 1998 after starring at Duke on its 1994 team’s Hall of Fame Bowl squad — the last Duke team to play in a bowl game until the 2012 and 2013 teams did it — Farmer began his administrative career in 2001 as Duke’s academic coordinator for football.

He worked as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons from 2002 to 2005 and was then hired as director of pro personnel by the Kansas City Chiefs before moving to Cleveland.

Duke pole vaulter is ACC’s best on the week

DURHAM — The Atlantic Coast Conference named Duke sophomore Megan Clark the ACC Female Performer of the Week Tuesday, marking the second consecutive week the Fort Benning, Ga., native received the honor.

The pole vaulter earned the accolade following a school record clearance of 14-3.50 at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va., which ranks second nationally this season.

The Blue Devils return to competition Friday at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, and Saturday at the Millrose Games in New York City.

ITA title win continues to bear fruit for Duke

DURHAM — After leading Duke to the 2014 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship on Monday, Blue Devil sophomore Beatrice Capra has been named the ACC Player of the Week.

Capra collected a 3-1 singles record over the weekend with victories against the No.d 1, 2 and 15 singles players in the country. She also performed well in doubles, teaming with Hanna Mar throughout the weekend to amass a doubles ledger of 2-1, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the No. 1 doubles pair in the country.

Capra’s victory over UCLA’s Robin Anderson, the highest ranked singles player in the country, tied the championship match at 3-3 before Mar clinched the championship for the Blue Devils, 4-3 over the Bruins.

Duke collected wins against No. 11 Michigan, No. 8 California, No. 5 UCLA and No. 3 North Carolina on its way to claiming the indoor title.

UNC softball reschedules pair of games

CHAPEL HILL — Because of the area’s inclement weather, North Carolina on Tuesday postponed its home softball opener against Campbell to 5 p.m. March 11 and today’s scheduled meeting at Elon for March 27.

Duke men’s, women’s track rank high

DURHAM — The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its regional and national rankings Tuesday, with the Duke men’s track and field team sitting at No. 1 in the Southeast Region and No. 38 in the nation.

The Duke women’s team remained at No. 2 in the Southeast Region while moving up six positions to No. 29 nationally.

The rankings come just two days after strong performances by both teams at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York, N.Y., and the Virginia Tech Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va.

The women’s team ranks nationally ahead of all ACC opponents other than No. 27 Florida State, while the men’s sits ahead of all conference opponents other than No. 6 Florida State, No. 19 Notre Dame, No. 34 Virginia Tech and No. 37 Pittsburgh.

Duke finished at 21-over 873 after firing a 5-over 289 on Tuesday. USC won the team title at 14-over 868. North Carolina finished in 10th place overall at 899 after a final round 11-over 295.

Duke actually made up 10 shots on the first-place Trojans in the final round.

Arizona State finished third at 23-over 875 while Washington and UCLA tied for fourth place with 881 totals.

Annie Park of USC won the individual title at 8-under 207 followed by Baylor’s Hayley Davis (1-over 214). There was a five-way tie for third place at 2-over 215 — Arizona State’s Noemi Jimenez, Oklahoma’s Alexandra Kaui, UCLA’s Bronte Law, Duke’s Yu Liu and Florida’s Sarah Schober.

Duke men’s golf finishes fifth at The Farm

RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. — Sophomore Motin Yeung shot an even-par 72 Tuesday to finish third with a three-under 213 at The Farms Collegiate Invitational at the Farms Golf Club in Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. Duke closed the event in fifth place after recording a 309 in the final round.